Turnaround Expert Van Conway Launches Radio Show to Assist Small Businesses

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Van Conway, founder and CEO of Van Conway and Partners, a financial advisory and general investment services firm in downtown Birmingham, is launching a monthly radio show on News/Talk 760 WJR focused on assisting small businesses on a broad range of operational topics. The first show will be on Wed., Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. The next show will be on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.

“Our goal is to be on the air twice a month, and we will be focusing on small businesses and keeping them healthy,” says Conway, a financial and turnaround expert for 43 years. “Small businesses make up 99.7 percent of the businesses in America (up to 1,500 employees), and we will examine a range of issues for them.

“We will look at Dodd Frank and the impact it is still having on small businesses, and the same for Obamacare. Eli Zaret will be the host, and we will have a special guest on each show. For our first show, we will be speaking with Brian Elias, founder and president of Hansons (in Troy). He has built up a very successful home improvement company that now has $80 million in (annual) revenue.”

The hour-long show, called Van Conway’s Talking Biz, will have three, 15-minute segments focused on assisting companies with hiring talented employees and retaining them, corporate culture, tax issues, valuation issues, and growth. The final segment will cover questions from listeners.

“I’ll be asking each of our guests how they are growing their business, what their pain points are, and how they are addressing them,” says Conway. “All my professional life I’ve tried to help companies before they get into serious trouble. Companies fail, in my opinion, because they have bad management.

“Good companies run by great leaders will become great companies, but good companies run by poor leaders will eventually fail. For example, if you’re in retail and you’re not watching the impact of the internet on your business, you’re not doing your job. We’ll also look at how to hire talented people, retain them, and keep them engaged. I think company culture is the most important thing in a business. If the culture is right, the money will come. But if the culture is wrong, then you need to start worrying about the money.